Much-afraid did not sleep the first night. On the second, she had scarcely closed her eyes when a hinge creaked. She woke crying to her father not to sign, not to promise never to ask for help again.
When Christiana brought in a lamp, Much-afraid had drawn back to the corner of the bed. She would not even let Mercy come near. Her father, Despondency, sat beside her, repeating that everything was his fault.
“Look around here first,” Christiana said, setting the lamp down firmly. “The window is there. The door is open. We are beside the river now.”
Much-afraid looked for a long time before lowering her feet. She asked whether Despair would return. Christiana explained where the guards were and who was keeping watch in the next room. She did not offer only “Don’t worry” instead of an answer.
In the morning, Great-heart came to read the Bible. Much-afraid sat far away. At the promise that the Lord would not abandon his people, she suddenly spoke. “He read Bible verses every day too. He said we suffered because God had already rejected us.”
The room grew still. Great-heart laid his Bible on the table so she could see the passage. “When the devil tempted the Lord Jesus, he quoted Scripture too. Holding a Bible does not mean someone explains it faithfully. Despair twisted the Lord’s warnings into lies and kept you from hearing the Savior’s invitation.”
“I still have very little faith.”
“You can tell the Lord, ‘I believe; help my unbelief.’ The strength of faith does not come from making ourselves sound certain. It comes from the faithfulness of the Lord we trust.”
Despondency asked whether they ought to leave at once rather than go on troubling people. Christiana remembered the evening she had finally sat down to drink her soup. She asked them to count the days of healing as part of their journey too.
The others took turns helping. Chris was not asked to tell his own imprisonment over and over. If the two wanted to know how he had escaped, he told what he remembered. He also explained that some things still made him sad.
One sunny day, Ready-to-halt heard a pipe in the courtyard and tapped the ground twice with a crutch. The little girl began clapping. Much-afraid watched from the door and at last tapped along. Nobody called everyone over to see that she was smiling.
Later, she was willing to travel again with her father. Before leaving, she asked Christiana for a copy of the promise on her small paper. Christiana wrote it out and placed it in her hand. She remembered the night at the narrow gate. The comfort she had received really could be shared, without making the Lord’s promise any smaller.